Good morning.
Friday brings a day of gradual clearing to Whitewater, with a high of forty-five. Sunrise today is 6:44 AM and sunset is 7:14 PM.
On this day in 1979, a reactor overheats at Three Mile Island:
The most serious nuclear accident in United States history takes place at the Three Mile Island plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on this day in 1979, when one of the reactors overheats. Fortunately, a catastrophic meltdown was averted and there were no deaths or direct injuries from the accident.
The Three Mile Island plant had begun operations just months earlier on December 28, 1978. Very shortly after operations began, problems arose. It was 3:58 a.m. on March 28 when a pump that directed steam to the plant’s electric turbines stopped working, causing a water circulation pump to break down. Without the water, the temperature of the reactor rose dramatically and a relief valve opened to stop the pressure from building to dangerous levels. Unfortunately, the valve then would not close.
The plant operators, with no experience in emergencies, made key errors. Another valve was opened to allow water from the nuclear system into a waste tank. But this water ruptured the tank and radioactive water flooded into the reactor. Even worse, an operator shut off the automatic core-cooling system. The result of all these events and mistakes was that radioactive steam poured out of the plant. Additionally, radioactive water had to be released into the Susquehanna River. However, area authorities were not notified of these events until nearly three hours later.
It’s March Madness across America, and below is Puzzability‘s Friday game in a series for the week with that same name:
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This Week’s Game — March 24-28
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March Madness
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You can fill in your brackets every day for our little tournament. Each answer in this week’s trivia quiz is a name, title, or phrase that includes the letters in the word MARCH together, but out of order.
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Example:
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What song was Culture Club’s biggest hit, and its only song to reach #1 in the United States?
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Answer:
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“Ka[RMA CH]ameleon”
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What to Submit:
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Submit the name, title, or phrase, with the MARCH section in brackets (as “Ka[RMA CH]ameleon” in the example), for your answer.
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Friday, March 28
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